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When I Was a German, 1934-1945 #1
The Past Is Myself
Christabel Bielenberg, a niece of Lord Northcliffe, married a German lawyer in 1934. She lived through the war in Germany, as a German citizen, under the horrors of Nazi rule and Allied bombings. Closely associated with resistance circles, her husband was arrested after the failure of the plot against Hitler's life on 20th July 1944, and she herself was interrogated by the Gestapo. Not only do we meet her friends whose tragic bravery shines from the book, but dozens of everyday Germans, from the simple-minded Nazi official who was also her odd-job gardener, to the good-hearted Black Forest villagers who sheltered her till the liberation. They are presented with humour and sympathy, allowing the reader a remarkable insight into their character. All the more haunting, then, is her night-time encounter with an SS man from Riga who searches desperately for death on the battlefield. The human dimension of her writing brings about an unforgettable portrait of an evil time.
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
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About the author
Christabel Bielenberg
11 books13 followersChristabel Bielenberg (18 June 1909 – 2 November 2003) was a British writer who was married to a German lawyer, Peter Bielenberg. She described her experiences living in Germany during the Second World War in two books: The Past is Myself (1968) and The Road Ahead. She was educated at St Margaret's School, Bushey, Hertfordshire.
Christabel Mary Burton was born in Hertfordshire to Anglo-Irish parents. Her mother, also named Christabel (née Harmsworth), was the sister of Lords Northcliffe, Harmsworth and Rothermere. Christabel Mary won a scholarship to Oxford but decided to study music in Germany. While there she met Peter Bielenberg (1911–2001), two years her junior, who was studying law with a view of joining his father's practice in Hamburg.
They married in 1934 and she took German citizenship, which required her to relinquish her British citizenship. The Bielenbergs lived initially in Hamburg, then moved to Berlin and had three sons, Nicholas, Christopher and John. The heavy Allied bombing raids led Mrs Bielenberg and her children to leave the city, and they eventually settled in the village of Rohrbach, near Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, in the Black Forest.
Both Christabel and Peter Bielenberg were opposed to Nazism and following Hitler's rise to power in 1933, participated in anti-Nazi activity. Peter Bielenberg was a close friend of Adam von Trott zu Solz, who was involved in the von Stauffenberg bomb plot against Adolf Hitler of 1944, and as a result of his suspect political views and this close association was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned in Ravensbrück concentration camp following its failure. In an effort to secure his release, Christabel Bielenberg asked to be interviewed by the Gestapo in order to convince them of her and her husband's political naivety and innocence. She was successful and he was released to a punishment unit but mistakenly allowed leave before joining it. He managed to slip away and remained in hiding near his family until the fighting ended.
After the war, she returned to the UK with her children, visiting Germany as a war correspondent. In 1948, the family settled in Tullow, County Carlow, Ireland, buying a dilapidated farm called "Munny House", which they transformed into a commercial success. As well as writing her autobiography she became involved with the Irish Peace Marches of the 1970s and lectured in Germany. She was made a Commander of the German Federal Order of Merit and was also awarded a Gold Medal of Merit by the European Parliament.
(from Wikipedia)
Christabel Mary Burton was born in Hertfordshire to Anglo-Irish parents. Her mother, also named Christabel (née Harmsworth), was the sister of Lords Northcliffe, Harmsworth and Rothermere. Christabel Mary won a scholarship to Oxford but decided to study music in Germany. While there she met Peter Bielenberg (1911–2001), two years her junior, who was studying law with a view of joining his father's practice in Hamburg.
They married in 1934 and she took German citizenship, which required her to relinquish her British citizenship. The Bielenbergs lived initially in Hamburg, then moved to Berlin and had three sons, Nicholas, Christopher and John. The heavy Allied bombing raids led Mrs Bielenberg and her children to leave the city, and they eventually settled in the village of Rohrbach, near Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, in the Black Forest.
Both Christabel and Peter Bielenberg were opposed to Nazism and following Hitler's rise to power in 1933, participated in anti-Nazi activity. Peter Bielenberg was a close friend of Adam von Trott zu Solz, who was involved in the von Stauffenberg bomb plot against Adolf Hitler of 1944, and as a result of his suspect political views and this close association was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned in Ravensbrück concentration camp following its failure. In an effort to secure his release, Christabel Bielenberg asked to be interviewed by the Gestapo in order to convince them of her and her husband's political naivety and innocence. She was successful and he was released to a punishment unit but mistakenly allowed leave before joining it. He managed to slip away and remained in hiding near his family until the fighting ended.
After the war, she returned to the UK with her children, visiting Germany as a war correspondent. In 1948, the family settled in Tullow, County Carlow, Ireland, buying a dilapidated farm called "Munny House", which they transformed into a commercial success. As well as writing her autobiography she became involved with the Irish Peace Marches of the 1970s and lectured in Germany. She was made a Commander of the German Federal Order of Merit and was also awarded a Gold Medal of Merit by the European Parliament.
(from Wikipedia)
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March 2, 2021I would have read this book very differently if I had not read Sebastian Haffner's Geschichte eines Deutschen: Die Erinnerungen 1914 – 1933 or ever heard of The Daily Mail.
The author, Christabel Bielenberg was a British, or Anglo-Irish woman, she was the niece of Lord Northcliffe, proprietor of the aforementioned newspaper which was supportive of fascism in the 1920s and 30s who married a German who like Haffner was studying to be a lawyer. This by the way is all on the back cover of my edition, which purely unexpectedly I happened to see before starting to read the book, and which gave me a grim feeling before starting, because Haffner, ahem, the whole drive of Haffner's narrative is that he is perfectly well aware as an educated, alert young man what is going on around him and we see him get out of Germany in 1934. Ok, we can say that Haffner's book is in part a justification to himself, explaining to convince himself why he took the extreme step of leaving the land of his birth to live in another country, also we can say that maybe Haffner was just particularly clear sighted about the Nazis and what they were about, maybe Peter Bielenberg was just one of the more silly members of society? Being of a grim disposition I began the book with the negative impression and suspicion that the Bielenbergs were probably fairly sympathetic towards the Nazis , and I am happy to say having read the book that that was probably not a baseless suspicion .
Well what do we get? Firstly this is a memoir that she constructed from her diaries, it is strongly episodic, it is also hugely unbalanced, it covers the years 1934 to 1945 but unevenly, the year 1944 takes up over half the book .
Christabel's path is quite interesting, she starts in Hamburg, then she plus husband plus two young sons move to Berlin , during the war she and her three young sons move out to the Black Forest, staying in a village that you can only reach by hitching a lift on the milk cart when it stops at the nearest station, but she visits Berlin a couple of times during the war. the descriptions of the villagers are great, for instance Martina who treats the cows like people and aspires to be a nun, and once Bielenberg gets used to the country air she develops far closer relationships with people than she seems to have had in Berlin.
The narrative voice is as if she is the future great aunt of Tim nice but dim, at one stage her husband has to leave her in Berlin and assigns a friend of his to make all important decisions for her, although she is an adult and mother of two you can kind of see his point, she comes across at times as rather hapless, . As you may have already guessed her milieu is upper class and politically conservative, although , their lives are privileged; money is no problem, they have a servant, things only get hard for her and the children in the last couple of years of the war, so she has a rarefied perspective on the dictatorship.
There are all kinds of interesting incidents that she recounts and gets involved in, and to mention them would spoil much of the interest of the book, but interestingly nothing much about the education of her sons, and this all fleshes out what living in a dictatorship was like particularly the conversational dances as you try to work out what you can and can't say to a person you have just met, she is particularly cutting about the Nazi-mania she observes in Austria compared to British press accounts of the union with Germany , but for me the highlight of her account are the jokes, and the general grousing and grumbling of getting by and muddling through in the war. I'll bore you with two: two Hamburg dock workers are sitting down together having a beer, one says " Ja, ja, ja" and sighs deeply and then "ja, ja, ja" followed by another deep sigh, at which his friend says "Can't you ever shut up about politics?"
In the other joke, Hitler is stand looking at a portrait of himself on the wall and says " I wonder what will happen to you and me once the war is over", the portrait replies " I'll be taken down and you'll be strung up" .
Interesting, but not great.
The author, Christabel Bielenberg was a British, or Anglo-Irish woman, she was the niece of Lord Northcliffe, proprietor of the aforementioned newspaper which was supportive of fascism in the 1920s and 30s who married a German who like Haffner was studying to be a lawyer. This by the way is all on the back cover of my edition, which purely unexpectedly I happened to see before starting to read the book, and which gave me a grim feeling before starting, because Haffner, ahem, the whole drive of Haffner's narrative is that he is perfectly well aware as an educated, alert young man what is going on around him and we see him get out of Germany in 1934. Ok, we can say that Haffner's book is in part a justification to himself, explaining to convince himself why he took the extreme step of leaving the land of his birth to live in another country, also we can say that maybe Haffner was just particularly clear sighted about the Nazis and what they were about, maybe Peter Bielenberg was just one of the more silly members of society? Being of a grim disposition I began the book with the negative impression and suspicion that the Bielenbergs were probably fairly sympathetic towards the Nazis , and I am happy to say having read the book that that was probably not a baseless suspicion .
Well what do we get? Firstly this is a memoir that she constructed from her diaries, it is strongly episodic, it is also hugely unbalanced, it covers the years 1934 to 1945 but unevenly, the year 1944 takes up over half the book .
Christabel's path is quite interesting, she starts in Hamburg, then she plus husband plus two young sons move to Berlin , during the war she and her three young sons move out to the Black Forest, staying in a village that you can only reach by hitching a lift on the milk cart when it stops at the nearest station, but she visits Berlin a couple of times during the war. the descriptions of the villagers are great, for instance Martina who treats the cows like people and aspires to be a nun, and once Bielenberg gets used to the country air she develops far closer relationships with people than she seems to have had in Berlin.
The narrative voice is as if she is the future great aunt of Tim nice but dim, at one stage her husband has to leave her in Berlin and assigns a friend of his to make all important decisions for her, although she is an adult and mother of two you can kind of see his point, she comes across at times as rather hapless, . As you may have already guessed her milieu is upper class and politically conservative, although , their lives are privileged; money is no problem, they have a servant, things only get hard for her and the children in the last couple of years of the war, so she has a rarefied perspective on the dictatorship.
There are all kinds of interesting incidents that she recounts and gets involved in, and to mention them would spoil much of the interest of the book, but interestingly nothing much about the education of her sons, and this all fleshes out what living in a dictatorship was like particularly the conversational dances as you try to work out what you can and can't say to a person you have just met, she is particularly cutting about the Nazi-mania she observes in Austria compared to British press accounts of the union with Germany , but for me the highlight of her account are the jokes, and the general grousing and grumbling of getting by and muddling through in the war. I'll bore you with two: two Hamburg dock workers are sitting down together having a beer, one says " Ja, ja, ja" and sighs deeply and then "ja, ja, ja" followed by another deep sigh, at which his friend says "Can't you ever shut up about politics?"
In the other joke, Hitler is stand looking at a portrait of himself on the wall and says " I wonder what will happen to you and me once the war is over", the portrait replies " I'll be taken down and you'll be strung up" .
Interesting, but not great.
August 31, 2016
This was a fascinating memoir from a slightly different perspective. Though Christabel is English, she is married to a wonderful German man and spends the entirety of the war in Germany. I readNot I by Joachim Fest last year and the perspective of a regular German family living in Nazi Germany was completely new viewpoint to me. To be honest, it isn't easy for me to think warmly of Germany circa 1940; I don't hate Germans, but their fate never moved me in the same way as the Jewish, British, Polish, French, etc. populations affected by the war. I probably should have thought about it more, but the World War II lessons in school weren't incredibly nuanced. This book was incredibly powerful and drove home how excrutiating war is for everyone. Average German citizens suffered horribly as the Nazi regime tightened its grim, enduring air raids and bombings, food shortages, suffering from the deaths of their sons, brothers, and husbands. The sheer waste of life on both sides is breathtaking. It's a narrative we often don't read or hear about, but it's so important. I can't imagine how desperately awful and terrifying it must have been, watching helplessly as your beloved country slides farther into fascism and your entire world combusts around you.There were so many heartbreaking moments to reflect on: the toneless recounting of hangings, the Latvian soldier recounting his experience on a death squad extermining Jewish children, the hapless gardener who becomes the neighborhood Nazi warden and is strung up after the war, the Nazi typist who slapped the manacled prisoner typing his confession, the women at Ravensbruck forced to stand against a wall for an entire day after being beaten, the dentist who falls in love with a half-Jewish woman determined to prove her illegitimacy (which would ironically exclude her from the Nuremberg laws), Christabel's son's rapid maturation when he finds out about his father. This was terribly difficult to read and it made me feel sick, but it is such an important book. It's hard to see the good in the world after reading a book like this. Please read it if you can get a copy!
July 20, 2007
Possibly the best memoir I have ever read, excepting maybe Out of Africa by Isak Dineson. I found this book totally by chance at a used English bookstore in Italy and have now reread it probably four times. It is absolutely thrilling. The story of an English woman who marries a German man in the 30s and goes to live in Germany. They have children and then the war descends. It is a view of WWII that I believe is unique - that of a woman essentially trapped behind enemy lines and just trying to survive - and keep her family alive - the best way she knows how. She is a wonderfully observant writer as well, and her characters come fully alive for you. I also learned a lot about the German resistance, which I didn't even know existed before I read this. If you can get your hands on this, read it.
June 3, 2015
This book has been staring at me from my in-laws book shelves for 20 odd years - but I'd never got beyond musing about the slightly clumsy title. Last year, reading in 'Life after Life' the section where the heroine is braving allied bombing raids on Germany, I made a note to at last get beyond the title.
There's some fine, precise writing in here, essentially a series of stories from different moments during the war. Chris is focused on her children, while worrying about her husband, who is away from home a great deal, and is friendly with many recognised anti-Nazi's. All comes to a head after the July 20th plot, and we follow Chris into bombed out Berlin, and a trip to a concentration camp, and Gestapo questioning, as she tries to clear her husband. Amazingly, as the regime crumbles and chaos begins to reign, the family makes it (very sensibly staying in the American sector). This is always going to be a popular read, if only because of its unusual point of view. Its also a strong picture of family fortitude, and of getting on while all crumbles.
There's some fine, precise writing in here, essentially a series of stories from different moments during the war. Chris is focused on her children, while worrying about her husband, who is away from home a great deal, and is friendly with many recognised anti-Nazi's. All comes to a head after the July 20th plot, and we follow Chris into bombed out Berlin, and a trip to a concentration camp, and Gestapo questioning, as she tries to clear her husband. Amazingly, as the regime crumbles and chaos begins to reign, the family makes it (very sensibly staying in the American sector). This is always going to be a popular read, if only because of its unusual point of view. Its also a strong picture of family fortitude, and of getting on while all crumbles.
April 17, 2016
The Past is Myself recounts the life of Christabel Bielenberg under the Third Reich. Born Christabel Burton a niece of newspaper magnates Lords Rothermere and Northcliffe, she was named after the suffragette Christabel Pankhurst. Christabel moved to Hamburg to study singing under Alma Schadow. There she met Peter Bielenberg a 22-year-old law student. Neither had much interest in politics. Indeed, on attending a Nazi rally Peter whispered to Christabel “You may think that Germans are political idiots but I can assure you that they won’t be so stupid as to fall for that clown.” However, they did, and the couple married as Anglo-German relations were beginning to slide. When the newly married Christabel Bielenberg exchanged her British passport for a German one, an official at the London embassy told her, “You have not made a very good swap, I’m afraid; except of course that this handsome fellow is included in the deal.”
As Hitler’s terrors began, Christabel and Peter seriously considered moving to Ireland. But Peter felt he could not turn his back on his country, so he accepted a position in the Ministry of Economics and they moved to Berlin. However, Peter’s relationship with several known anti-Nazi figures caused him to be watched by the Gestapo and he decided to take a civilian job in Norway. At this point Christabel moved to Rohrbach in the Black Forest area where she stayed for the duration of the war.
The novel is divided into two parts: the first details the period in Berlin, the second her stay in Rohrbach. Rather than diary entries this book is written in an episodic style. Each episode gives a little insight into life in Germany before and during the war. There are many grim images of poverty, air raids, food rationing, and fear. We see Christabel interviewed by a Gestapo officer and an encounter with an SS officer on a train. But there are humorous anecdotes as well, including descriptions of various shopping trips at the black market in Berlin and the antics of her three young boys.
Christabel is an interesting figure and I enjoyed watching her develop. She had a traditional middle class upbringing but once the war begins to affect Berlin we see her quickly adapt. She becomes adept at picking out the best bargains and on a few occasions we watch as she deals deftly with Nazi figures at dinner parties. Then once in Rohrbach she fits in with a rural working class community. In fact she becomes a mother hen figure that people go to for advice and guidance. She is quick-witted but also caring, looking out for those she lives with in Rohrbach and her neighbours in Berlin.
An irreplaceable witness to our history, I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in the Second World War.
As Hitler’s terrors began, Christabel and Peter seriously considered moving to Ireland. But Peter felt he could not turn his back on his country, so he accepted a position in the Ministry of Economics and they moved to Berlin. However, Peter’s relationship with several known anti-Nazi figures caused him to be watched by the Gestapo and he decided to take a civilian job in Norway. At this point Christabel moved to Rohrbach in the Black Forest area where she stayed for the duration of the war.
The novel is divided into two parts: the first details the period in Berlin, the second her stay in Rohrbach. Rather than diary entries this book is written in an episodic style. Each episode gives a little insight into life in Germany before and during the war. There are many grim images of poverty, air raids, food rationing, and fear. We see Christabel interviewed by a Gestapo officer and an encounter with an SS officer on a train. But there are humorous anecdotes as well, including descriptions of various shopping trips at the black market in Berlin and the antics of her three young boys.
Christabel is an interesting figure and I enjoyed watching her develop. She had a traditional middle class upbringing but once the war begins to affect Berlin we see her quickly adapt. She becomes adept at picking out the best bargains and on a few occasions we watch as she deals deftly with Nazi figures at dinner parties. Then once in Rohrbach she fits in with a rural working class community. In fact she becomes a mother hen figure that people go to for advice and guidance. She is quick-witted but also caring, looking out for those she lives with in Rohrbach and her neighbours in Berlin.
An irreplaceable witness to our history, I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in the Second World War.
November 22, 2013
A memoir written by a Englishwoman married to a German citizen living in the Germany of World War II?
Being written by what to all intents and purposes was a 'foreign born' citizen I was hoping that The Past Is Myself would provide a somewhat different perspective from the multitude of books written by soldiers (both English and German), prisoners of war and the survivors of the Holocaust.
And in some ways it did. But not nearly a personal enough account - I really wanted to know more about the authors experiences and especially her feelings - I felt much of it had been well documented before.
Essentially what felt like a chronicle of events, of what happened, where and when, and to whom. Whilst the descriptions of everything from the treatment of the Jewish population, the economy, and the 'Suicide Season' were dealt with admirably the book as a whole could have benefited, as I explained before, from a more personal touch.
Ultimately a book that I found a chore to read. Frustrated by the words/sentences written in German for which no translation was given, footnotes being the exception rather than the rule, the narrative was constantly disrupted by my having to ask what such and such a word meant. Then there was the fact that the author regularly used phrases that left me totally puzzled - for those of you who are wondering, a 'hairy Mary' is apparently used to describe an exceptionally hairy woman though whether or not this is what Ms Bielenberg meant by it is any ones guess.
Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper.
Being written by what to all intents and purposes was a 'foreign born' citizen I was hoping that The Past Is Myself would provide a somewhat different perspective from the multitude of books written by soldiers (both English and German), prisoners of war and the survivors of the Holocaust.
And in some ways it did. But not nearly a personal enough account - I really wanted to know more about the authors experiences and especially her feelings - I felt much of it had been well documented before.
Essentially what felt like a chronicle of events, of what happened, where and when, and to whom. Whilst the descriptions of everything from the treatment of the Jewish population, the economy, and the 'Suicide Season' were dealt with admirably the book as a whole could have benefited, as I explained before, from a more personal touch.
Ultimately a book that I found a chore to read. Frustrated by the words/sentences written in German for which no translation was given, footnotes being the exception rather than the rule, the narrative was constantly disrupted by my having to ask what such and such a word meant. Then there was the fact that the author regularly used phrases that left me totally puzzled - for those of you who are wondering, a 'hairy Mary' is apparently used to describe an exceptionally hairy woman though whether or not this is what Ms Bielenberg meant by it is any ones guess.
Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper.
June 14, 2013
This is an incredible book that tells the story of the author and her husband who lived in Nazi Germany during WWII. The author was from England and married a German lawyer from Hamburg. They really didn't think Hitler was going to go anywhere and by the time they realized he was it was too late to leave.
They suffered incredible hardships and deprivation. While they were not directly involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler, some of their friends were. As a result, her husband was arrested which ultimately would have meant a death sentence. Christabel,kept her cool and acted with audacity which ultimately saved her husband and got them out of all sorts of jams.
If you are concerned about the times in which we live, Christabel's cool head and tactical and strategic audacity are valuable lessons with which to benefit from.
They suffered incredible hardships and deprivation. While they were not directly involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler, some of their friends were. As a result, her husband was arrested which ultimately would have meant a death sentence. Christabel,kept her cool and acted with audacity which ultimately saved her husband and got them out of all sorts of jams.
If you are concerned about the times in which we live, Christabel's cool head and tactical and strategic audacity are valuable lessons with which to benefit from.
January 5, 2008
After I came home with a reprinted book of letters from a mother in Germany during WWII to her family outside, my grandmother pointed this book my way. More of an episodic narrative, this book is the memoirs of an English born woman who marries her German husband and they start a life together in 30's Germany. Not having been exposed to much more than the usual extreme stories of WWII, it's just as fascinating and perhaps more real to read a more day-to-day account of a woman struggling to make the best of an uncontrollable situation. There must be millions of individual stories from this period of time, all equally compelling.
October 13, 2008
I bought this at a used book store in Scotland last year, but it is still available to buy. Bielenberg gives a first-hand account of life in Germany preceding and during WWII under Hitler's regime as a young Brit married to a non-Nazi German husband. The true story of their survival and the ethical dilemma of preserving their family amid a moral question of opposing the evil vs. keeping alive is well-told and fascinating.
June 27, 2007
Really interesting, beautifully written, humane book by an englishwoman who marries a German and moves to Germany in the mid-late 30s. This talks about her experiences throughout the war etc.
Her follow up book is boring though. Don't remember the name but i don't recommend it.
Her follow up book is boring though. Don't remember the name but i don't recommend it.
February 23, 2021
I found this to be a very interesting insight into life in Germany in the years leading up to and during WW2 told from the perspective of an Anglo Irish woman married to a German. What did “ordinary” people think of Hitler’s rise to power. Interesting aspects for me were the following
1 The anxiety and stress caused by being unable to speak freely.
2 The sensationalist press which kept the people ignorant of the true progress of the war.
3 The fact that Chris was not considered an enemy alien as I think her husband would have been if the had been living in Britain.
4 Her observation that had Hitler not put so much effort into eliminating the Jewish people the end result of the war might have been different. Many Jews in Germany would have possibly backed Hitler’s ambition for his country.
She was an undoubtedly brave woman and the fact that she was in some ways privileged does not take away from that.
My one little irritation was her reference to England and the English army instead of British.
1 The anxiety and stress caused by being unable to speak freely.
2 The sensationalist press which kept the people ignorant of the true progress of the war.
3 The fact that Chris was not considered an enemy alien as I think her husband would have been if the had been living in Britain.
4 Her observation that had Hitler not put so much effort into eliminating the Jewish people the end result of the war might have been different. Many Jews in Germany would have possibly backed Hitler’s ambition for his country.
She was an undoubtedly brave woman and the fact that she was in some ways privileged does not take away from that.
My one little irritation was her reference to England and the English army instead of British.
May 8, 2022
An interesting account of WW2 written by an English woman, Christabel, married to a German. She and her husband, Peter, lived in Berlin in the lead up to the war and were both anti Nazi. Peter is a lawyer and his best friend is Adam von Trott who was involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler. When the attempt failed Peter is arrested - Adam and his co-conspirators were executed but because Peter wasn’t directly involved he gets sent to a concentration camp. Christabel moves to a village in the Black Forrest to keep her children safe.
It gives a different perspective on the war and highlights the courage of many of the German people.
It gives a different perspective on the war and highlights the courage of many of the German people.
April 17, 2016
After reading some rather dire presentiments about the future of American democracy, I wanted to get a first-hand account of what the rise of a fascist region felt like. Having the perspective on a whip-start British woman seemed like the next best thing to being there.
Spoiler alert, Donald Trump is not Adolf Hitler, and we are not on the verge of the collapse of American democracy. Yet.
A renewed faith in the strength of the republic notwithstanding, this is a tremendously well-written account of an incredibly interesting time. Chris Bielenberg — Frau Doktor — is a captivating storyteller. She captures the character of her friends and neighbors with subtlety, deftly explaining the ways Hitler and his Nazi followers indirectly intruded on the lives of ordinary people.
That's kind of the incredible thing. Chris' family was remarkably isolated from the pressures of the regime until late into the second World War. I felt like this lends her account a more realistic every-man kind of feel. There's been a lot of fiction on WWII, mostly focused on the actors who took part in the more direct, cinematic parts of the conflict.
The Past Is Myself feels closer to what an average person must have felt. And the essential goodness of the people in her life rings through the decades.
That's not to see that Bielenberg's story isn't dramatic. There are some scenes in this book, particularly in the latter half, that read almost too sensational to be real. A conversation with a Nazi officer in a dark, empty train car with air raid sirens going on? A tit-a-tat with a Nazi prisoner conveyed in code and hand signals? It's hard to believe they're real. Indeed, one wonders if some of her depictions of her friends don't contain embellishments or careful omissions.
Still, one gets the sense that Bielenberg is a straight-forward person, and it's hard to imagine what political benefit there would be when this book was publishing in the 1960s to cover the deeds of others.
And since the book is utterly thrilling, can one really help but give her the benefit of the doubt? Fantastic book, glad I bought it.
Spoiler alert, Donald Trump is not Adolf Hitler, and we are not on the verge of the collapse of American democracy. Yet.
A renewed faith in the strength of the republic notwithstanding, this is a tremendously well-written account of an incredibly interesting time. Chris Bielenberg — Frau Doktor — is a captivating storyteller. She captures the character of her friends and neighbors with subtlety, deftly explaining the ways Hitler and his Nazi followers indirectly intruded on the lives of ordinary people.
That's kind of the incredible thing. Chris' family was remarkably isolated from the pressures of the regime until late into the second World War. I felt like this lends her account a more realistic every-man kind of feel. There's been a lot of fiction on WWII, mostly focused on the actors who took part in the more direct, cinematic parts of the conflict.
The Past Is Myself feels closer to what an average person must have felt. And the essential goodness of the people in her life rings through the decades.
That's not to see that Bielenberg's story isn't dramatic. There are some scenes in this book, particularly in the latter half, that read almost too sensational to be real. A conversation with a Nazi officer in a dark, empty train car with air raid sirens going on? A tit-a-tat with a Nazi prisoner conveyed in code and hand signals? It's hard to believe they're real. Indeed, one wonders if some of her depictions of her friends don't contain embellishments or careful omissions.
Still, one gets the sense that Bielenberg is a straight-forward person, and it's hard to imagine what political benefit there would be when this book was publishing in the 1960s to cover the deeds of others.
And since the book is utterly thrilling, can one really help but give her the benefit of the doubt? Fantastic book, glad I bought it.
March 6, 2019
Its taken me ages to finish because it is NOT comfortable reading, ( it’s set in 1940s Nazi Germany!) but I really feel like I want to share how good it was!
Written as a memoir for her children about Christabel Beilenbergs’ experience of Nazi Germany! She was British and married a German in 1933, in her own words: “I am British. I was German, and I was there.” Her narrative style is very stoic and she has a ‘stiff upper lip’ when describing certain events which can at first seem cold, until you get to know the writers personality (and also fully grasp and appreciate the societal norms of the time.) And yes the structure and narrative jumps about a bit but it’s because it’s a memoir & life is messy like that- it isn’t linear like a book! STILL this book overcomes all of that and has left an indelible mark on my psyche. The grace with which she describes her neighbours and their getting caught up in the Natzi hyperbole is humbling.
I’m giving spoilers but when she describes her fears over her young sons being educated by propaganda to believe they are the master race and thinking of ways she can overcome this without becoming a target for the gestapo, I could barely catch my breath! As a mum - I got it! A simple but profound fear about raising your kids to be nice humans. Confounded when her 5 year old let slip that his mum listens to the (English) wireless very low with her ear pressed against it.
Later scenes between her & her German friends Lexi & Adam (who was executed for his part in an assassination attempt against Hitler!) had me crying and desperately wishing it was a work of fiction. But it wasn’t, the cruelty, & the tragedy, was real and the human aspect of how ordinary Germans felt is forgotten and smothered in shame. If kids still read Anne Frank in primary school. They should also make this compulsory reading for secondary age children to understand the complexities of war.
This book has done what all good books should do, it’s challenged my
world view and changed me for the better. Read it!
Written as a memoir for her children about Christabel Beilenbergs’ experience of Nazi Germany! She was British and married a German in 1933, in her own words: “I am British. I was German, and I was there.” Her narrative style is very stoic and she has a ‘stiff upper lip’ when describing certain events which can at first seem cold, until you get to know the writers personality (and also fully grasp and appreciate the societal norms of the time.) And yes the structure and narrative jumps about a bit but it’s because it’s a memoir & life is messy like that- it isn’t linear like a book! STILL this book overcomes all of that and has left an indelible mark on my psyche. The grace with which she describes her neighbours and their getting caught up in the Natzi hyperbole is humbling.
I’m giving spoilers but when she describes her fears over her young sons being educated by propaganda to believe they are the master race and thinking of ways she can overcome this without becoming a target for the gestapo, I could barely catch my breath! As a mum - I got it! A simple but profound fear about raising your kids to be nice humans. Confounded when her 5 year old let slip that his mum listens to the (English) wireless very low with her ear pressed against it.
Later scenes between her & her German friends Lexi & Adam (who was executed for his part in an assassination attempt against Hitler!) had me crying and desperately wishing it was a work of fiction. But it wasn’t, the cruelty, & the tragedy, was real and the human aspect of how ordinary Germans felt is forgotten and smothered in shame. If kids still read Anne Frank in primary school. They should also make this compulsory reading for secondary age children to understand the complexities of war.
This book has done what all good books should do, it’s challenged my
world view and changed me for the better. Read it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 1, 2022
In 1934 Christabel Burton married Peter Bielenberg a young German lawyer, gave up her British citizenship and went to live in Hamburg. Christabel was English and her husband was the son of an elite Hamburg family who never believed anyone could be taken in by the rhetoric of Adolf Hitler. They were shocked when this man they believed was a clown became Chancellor. But Hitler, a politically astute and cunning individual, had a good understanding of the German people. He crafted his politics to include something for everyone, covering his actions with a smokescreen of legality and propriety. Knowing the spirit of his revolution would come from the disgruntled, the disenchanted and the dispossessed middle classes, he made sure his politics had an appeal for each of them. His loud insistent rhetoric spoke of work for the unemployed, a strong army for those with military leanings and a cult-like phony religion for the gullible. It was delivered among pomp and ceremony in a bombastic demanding voice that forced the international community to listen and appealed to those in his audience at home who still smarted under the indignity of their loss in the previous war. Behind the scenes, he quietly constructed the detention and work camps to give hints of what would happen to those who had the audacity to examine or disapprove of his methods.
After completing his studies, Peter Bielenberg qualified as a lawyer and joined his father’s firm. His Dad was ready to turn over his prosperous business to his son, but soon learned he had to become a member of the Nazi Party to do so. After one of Peter’s clients he successfully defended was picked up by the Gestapo, rearrested and taken away, Peter no longer saw the point of practicing law.
In 1939 the family moved from Hamburg to Berlin where they made a number friends who opposed the Nazi ideology. Peter now working in The Ministry of Economics, was assigned to manage an aircraft factory in Graudenz, so he spent most of his time away from home while Christabel remained in Berlin with the children. When the allied bombing increased, Christabel did not feel safe so she and their sons left to take refuge in Rohrbach, a small farming village in the Black Forest.
In July 1944 after a failed attempt on Hitler’s life, some of Peter’s friends, accused in the plot, were executed. Among them was his best friend Adam von Trott, a German aristocrat. Peter, although not in Berlin at the time, was caught up in the aftermath of the investigation and suspected of being involved, was arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Ravensbruck.
Christabel traveled to the camp to visit him and using all her charm and guile, including vague references to her influential contacts in Britain, convinced the Gestapo officer to release him. When Peter returned home, he spent the entire first night telling Christabel all the horrible things he had seen and heard in the camp, but never spoke of any of it again. Instead, he remained quiet and stayed in hiding to avoid being recalled for military service until the end of the war. When it finally came, the family moved to a farm in Ireland where in 1968, Christabel wrote her account of those unsettling years.
This narrative is Christabel’s personal account of trying to live her life under the repressive regime of the Third Reich. Her goal was not only to record the experience for her family but to share with the world that contrary to what many believed, not all Germans were Nazis and there were many that hated Hitler, his beliefs and his actions.
Like everyone in Europe living during the war, life was hard. The shortage of food was compounded by the tension among neighbours. Speaking out against the regime meant certain death and The Reich had spies everywhere ready to report anyone suspected of doing so. After Christabel fled to the Black Forest, life was much easier. She quickly earned the trust and friendship of the villagers and soon became a part of the community. Although food was short, no one starved and people looked out for one another. The villagers were more concerned about whether their family members would return from the war rather than which side was the victor. There is even an amusing account of what happened when an American airman was shot down nearby and the villagers were not sure what to do.
Although this is a well written account of Christabel’s life in Germany during that period, it cannot be considered a reflection on what life was like for most Germans. Bielenberg’s emphasis is always on how many Germans did not support Hitler or his regime, ignoring the fact that many fell under his charismatic spell and did unspeakable things. She does not speak of the atrocities, the concentration camps, the Holocaust, or the thousands of people picked up by the Gestapo, accused of crimes and executed without a trial. She knew Jews were being harassed and persecuted and even hid a young couple for a few nights but limits her comments to her own story, ignoring what was happening throughout the country. After the book was published and she was criticized for this, she insisted that the first she heard of the atrocities when she returned to Britain in 1946 and when she did, she could not believe it. That seems hardly credible considering her visit to Ravensbruck and the night her husband shared with her all he had heard and seen in that concentration camp.
It is surprising that as a British citizen she was not persecuted, probably because she spoke German so well most people forgot she was English. This of course had an important effect on her experience which may be why her book has a more positive slant towards the Germans and avoids the horror of what really went on. Her narrative is a report of her own personal experience during the war years and not necessarily reflective of what went on in the rest of the country. It is possible that the horror of reality was too much to bear, so she avoided it completely, but it does remain frustrating for readers who now know what took place. To survive, she may have had to turn away or ignore some awful truths. A clear example of that was the time she found herself alone on a train with an SS officer headed to the front. He was suicidal, desperately hoping for death on the battlefield to escape the memories of what he had done as a member of Hitler’s extermination squads. Here was a man with so much on his conscience, he sought death to rid him of his terrible guilt. As he confessed to the horrors of his work, Christabel, could not listen to his stories and stayed silent unable to have a conversation with him. She felt exhausted and as the barbarity of his stories became too much, she sought the oblivion of sleep. Perhaps turning away from the horror and refusing to acknowledge the savagery helped her to get through the experience.
Instead of recording the devastating reality, Christabel writes about the small things that helped her gets through her days, the simple things that made life bearable like a half decent cup of coffee, a breakfast of eggs and bacon and listening to the BBC, these comforts only available when she sheltered in the Black Forest.
Most books written about the war by those left at home, come from the British side, so this is an interesting addition to that literature and a valuable resource for historians. I am not sure about the title; I find it vague and am unsure of its meaning.
This is a good read, but it does have its limitations and cannot be considered an accurate account of what everyday life was like for most Germans. I find it amazing that Christabel never acknowledges the good luck she and her family had during those years. It is as if she does not realize how different her life was from most other German citizens. Still, it proved an interesting read.
After completing his studies, Peter Bielenberg qualified as a lawyer and joined his father’s firm. His Dad was ready to turn over his prosperous business to his son, but soon learned he had to become a member of the Nazi Party to do so. After one of Peter’s clients he successfully defended was picked up by the Gestapo, rearrested and taken away, Peter no longer saw the point of practicing law.
In 1939 the family moved from Hamburg to Berlin where they made a number friends who opposed the Nazi ideology. Peter now working in The Ministry of Economics, was assigned to manage an aircraft factory in Graudenz, so he spent most of his time away from home while Christabel remained in Berlin with the children. When the allied bombing increased, Christabel did not feel safe so she and their sons left to take refuge in Rohrbach, a small farming village in the Black Forest.
In July 1944 after a failed attempt on Hitler’s life, some of Peter’s friends, accused in the plot, were executed. Among them was his best friend Adam von Trott, a German aristocrat. Peter, although not in Berlin at the time, was caught up in the aftermath of the investigation and suspected of being involved, was arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Ravensbruck.
Christabel traveled to the camp to visit him and using all her charm and guile, including vague references to her influential contacts in Britain, convinced the Gestapo officer to release him. When Peter returned home, he spent the entire first night telling Christabel all the horrible things he had seen and heard in the camp, but never spoke of any of it again. Instead, he remained quiet and stayed in hiding to avoid being recalled for military service until the end of the war. When it finally came, the family moved to a farm in Ireland where in 1968, Christabel wrote her account of those unsettling years.
This narrative is Christabel’s personal account of trying to live her life under the repressive regime of the Third Reich. Her goal was not only to record the experience for her family but to share with the world that contrary to what many believed, not all Germans were Nazis and there were many that hated Hitler, his beliefs and his actions.
Like everyone in Europe living during the war, life was hard. The shortage of food was compounded by the tension among neighbours. Speaking out against the regime meant certain death and The Reich had spies everywhere ready to report anyone suspected of doing so. After Christabel fled to the Black Forest, life was much easier. She quickly earned the trust and friendship of the villagers and soon became a part of the community. Although food was short, no one starved and people looked out for one another. The villagers were more concerned about whether their family members would return from the war rather than which side was the victor. There is even an amusing account of what happened when an American airman was shot down nearby and the villagers were not sure what to do.
Although this is a well written account of Christabel’s life in Germany during that period, it cannot be considered a reflection on what life was like for most Germans. Bielenberg’s emphasis is always on how many Germans did not support Hitler or his regime, ignoring the fact that many fell under his charismatic spell and did unspeakable things. She does not speak of the atrocities, the concentration camps, the Holocaust, or the thousands of people picked up by the Gestapo, accused of crimes and executed without a trial. She knew Jews were being harassed and persecuted and even hid a young couple for a few nights but limits her comments to her own story, ignoring what was happening throughout the country. After the book was published and she was criticized for this, she insisted that the first she heard of the atrocities when she returned to Britain in 1946 and when she did, she could not believe it. That seems hardly credible considering her visit to Ravensbruck and the night her husband shared with her all he had heard and seen in that concentration camp.
It is surprising that as a British citizen she was not persecuted, probably because she spoke German so well most people forgot she was English. This of course had an important effect on her experience which may be why her book has a more positive slant towards the Germans and avoids the horror of what really went on. Her narrative is a report of her own personal experience during the war years and not necessarily reflective of what went on in the rest of the country. It is possible that the horror of reality was too much to bear, so she avoided it completely, but it does remain frustrating for readers who now know what took place. To survive, she may have had to turn away or ignore some awful truths. A clear example of that was the time she found herself alone on a train with an SS officer headed to the front. He was suicidal, desperately hoping for death on the battlefield to escape the memories of what he had done as a member of Hitler’s extermination squads. Here was a man with so much on his conscience, he sought death to rid him of his terrible guilt. As he confessed to the horrors of his work, Christabel, could not listen to his stories and stayed silent unable to have a conversation with him. She felt exhausted and as the barbarity of his stories became too much, she sought the oblivion of sleep. Perhaps turning away from the horror and refusing to acknowledge the savagery helped her to get through the experience.
Instead of recording the devastating reality, Christabel writes about the small things that helped her gets through her days, the simple things that made life bearable like a half decent cup of coffee, a breakfast of eggs and bacon and listening to the BBC, these comforts only available when she sheltered in the Black Forest.
Most books written about the war by those left at home, come from the British side, so this is an interesting addition to that literature and a valuable resource for historians. I am not sure about the title; I find it vague and am unsure of its meaning.
This is a good read, but it does have its limitations and cannot be considered an accurate account of what everyday life was like for most Germans. I find it amazing that Christabel never acknowledges the good luck she and her family had during those years. It is as if she does not realize how different her life was from most other German citizens. Still, it proved an interesting read.
October 18, 2014
Ever wondered how worthy you'd be in the face of societal evil? Christabel Bielenberg's memoir of living as an English woman who'd married a German during WWII is one example. She lived as well as she could and treasured every moment of humanity (and fumed against numerous cruel acts) perpetrated by all sides of the conflict. The introduction revealed that her husband was released from prison. At first, I cursed not saving the intro for last, just to avoid such spoilers, but as I reached her account of his imprisonment, I was glad to know all would end well for these two. (By well, of course, I mean surviving.) Therefore, I have no qualms is mimicking the editor's choice and letting anyone who may read this have the same relief.
This was published in 1968, well past the events described. How could she recreate the dialogue and scenes? It's true, certain events, even the small effect of the pattern of snow blowing across the road, can be worthy of recall, esp if it's the road you're walking to meet your husband imprisoned in a concentration camp. Her bon mots of regular germans stayed with me. These are the small matters that link us all. And her reaction to the actual end made me believe in humanity again, even if I despair of mankind.
This was published in 1968, well past the events described. How could she recreate the dialogue and scenes? It's true, certain events, even the small effect of the pattern of snow blowing across the road, can be worthy of recall, esp if it's the road you're walking to meet your husband imprisoned in a concentration camp. Her bon mots of regular germans stayed with me. These are the small matters that link us all. And her reaction to the actual end made me believe in humanity again, even if I despair of mankind.
January 19, 2015
I spent the first third of the book interested in what was happening, but not really engaged with the action because Christabel felt quite distant to me. It was only when she, and those close to her, were in real danger that she seemed to throw off the reserve and I felt I could actually engage with her and was really swept along by her story.
The book is very interesting as a piece written by someone who lived alongside the resistance movement in Germany during World War 2, it is also interesting as an account of the thoughts of a British person living in Germany during this time. The writing itself is very good and the only reason I have given it 4 stars instead of 5 is the rather slow-paced reserve of the first third of the book.
The book is very interesting as a piece written by someone who lived alongside the resistance movement in Germany during World War 2, it is also interesting as an account of the thoughts of a British person living in Germany during this time. The writing itself is very good and the only reason I have given it 4 stars instead of 5 is the rather slow-paced reserve of the first third of the book.
November 6, 2014
Indrukwekkend autobiografisch verslag van een Engelse vrouw die in de jaren dertig met een Duitser trouwt. Ze besluiten met hun gezin in Nazi-Duitsland te blijven tijdens de oorlog en zijn zijdelings betrokken bij de aanslag op Hitlers leven. Boeiend van de grote lijnen (zoals: lukt het om genoeg mensen bij elkaar te krijgen om Hitlers dictatuur omver te werpen; wat is het nut van de geallieerde bombardementen?) tot de kleinste details. Veel anecdotes uit haar eigen leven en dat van mensen die ze op allerlei plekken ontmoet. Het boek leest als een in memoriam voor de vele Duitsers - 'goed' en 'fout' - die de oorlog niet overleefden. Spannende mustread voor iedereen die de tweede wereldoorlog beter wil begrijpen.
February 15, 2019
I found myself swaying between admiring Bielenberg's bravery, particularly her visit to the Gestapo at Ravensbrück, and being irritated by her privilege, however resourceful she came to be. I enjoyed the accurate descriptions of traits and values that still partly hold true (being a good 'Hausfrau' etc) today. Bielenberg's war years were so different to those of my in-laws, many of whom lost everything and suffered true deprivation that by the end I felt less enamoured of her and more irritated by her naïvety. Having lived in Germany for longer periods, I would've liked to have learnt more about how she actually felt and how she was treated as an Englishwoman, a foreigner.
A good read for its historical perspective and I'm sorry to be missing a group discussion.
A good read for its historical perspective and I'm sorry to be missing a group discussion.
Read
January 25, 2022One of the best memoirs I have ever read. I went on to read Christabel “Chris” Bielenberg’s 2nd book, The Road Ahead. I highly recommend it too. Chris was smart, funny, self-deprecating and a courageous woman. I wish I could have met her. She lived in the midst of one of the most chaotic times ever-WW 2. And she was in the thick of it-in Germany. Although Chris was British she had married a German-Peter Bielenberg. If you’ve ever read a book that you don’t want to end, this is it. I feel like I know this woman-personally. And now I am going to miss her.
January 20, 2013
The author was an Englishwoman from a wealthy background who married a German liberal During the 1930s she lived a tranquil life in a small town in Germany raising her family.
Her account of the Nazi years is chilling and the eloquence of the language is admirable. An outstanding and very moving book.
Her account of the Nazi years is chilling and the eloquence of the language is admirable. An outstanding and very moving book.
January 21, 2018
A remarkable insight into life in Nazi Germany from the point of view of an English woman who married a German lawyer. This is a truly stunning account of the war years from a German angle and showed the staunch opposition to Hitler that existed in the country. One of the best memoirs I have ever read.
October 27, 2024
The Past Is Myself (or “Life Amongst The Huns”) is an upper-class heroism memoir for the most part, plenty of hand-wringing and derring-do witterings, readers from Blighty will be thrilled at the pointed remark episodes at Berlin tea parties. Showing a stiff upper lip and mustn’t mumble attitude in the face of provocation from maniacally polite local Nazi officials- that will show Jerry, who is being ruled over by a frightful shouty fellow from one of the provinces. The problem with this book is that it presents a hausfrau with enough privileges to disarm even the most hostile Nazi . It’s extremely dated and a bit too trivial in tone given what we know about the hideous terror of life in Nazi Germany from numerous sources. Bielenberg never drives the drama so hard that it would become too much for the knitting circle readership the book is aimed at, and much of it is unreliable. Christabel is rather too declarative about her crush (in retrospect) on Adam von Trott one of the executed July 20th conspirators. In a cringeworthy example of the ‘special relationship’ a downed American airman cries “Hi beautiful” at our heroine. When the news arrives that her husband has been arrested her young son declares “I want to be English. Do you hear Mummy? I want to be English.” The narrative clumps along in this fashion. It is probably one of the worst books I have ever read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2025
This captivating memoir was written by Christabel Bielenberg, an Englishwoman who married a German lawyer and lived in Germany during World War II. The book offers a unique perspective on life in the Third Reich from the viewpoint of a civilian just trying to survive, not a Nazi or a victim of a concentration camp. It is often praised for its depiction of the "other Germany" and how ordinary citizens, such as Bielenberg and her family, coped with an increasingly difficult and paranoid world.
The memoir is noteworthy because it provides a close-up look at German society during the war, highlighting the struggles endured by both regular citizens and anti-Nazis who opposed the government. Bielenberg shows that not all Germans supported Hitler by describing the subtle and not-so-subtle ways people resisted.
The book is a first-person survival story that focuses on daily life under the Nazi government and during the Allied bombings. It portrays the brief moments of humanity and hope that allowed people to endure the horrors of war. This entails learning to laugh, building relationships with neighbors, and valuing the little pleasures that were "blown out of all proportion" during a time of scarcity.
The memoir is noteworthy because it provides a close-up look at German society during the war, highlighting the struggles endured by both regular citizens and anti-Nazis who opposed the government. Bielenberg shows that not all Germans supported Hitler by describing the subtle and not-so-subtle ways people resisted.
The book is a first-person survival story that focuses on daily life under the Nazi government and during the Allied bombings. It portrays the brief moments of humanity and hope that allowed people to endure the horrors of war. This entails learning to laugh, building relationships with neighbors, and valuing the little pleasures that were "blown out of all proportion" during a time of scarcity.
November 30, 2025
On one level this book is fascinating - portraying as it does the life of a British woman married to a German, who was based in Germany during the Second World War, along with their children. There were sparks of brilliance in Bielenberg's writing, and she gives some wonderful glimpses into the characters of the people she knew there during the war - but overall I found that it jumped around a bit - to the degree that I found it distracting. I wished there had been a stronger timeline, giving a solid basic skeleton to her story.
For my own information, I am just going to end with a link to her Wikipedia entry, which I think gives an excellent summary of her life, both in Germany and beyond.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa...
Thanks to Canadian Reader I'm also going to add two more excellent links.
The Dictionary of Irish Biography:
https://www.dib.ie/biography/bielenbe...
Her obituary in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003...
For my own information, I am just going to end with a link to her Wikipedia entry, which I think gives an excellent summary of her life, both in Germany and beyond.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa...
Thanks to Canadian Reader I'm also going to add two more excellent links.
The Dictionary of Irish Biography:
https://www.dib.ie/biography/bielenbe...
Her obituary in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003...
February 17, 2025
An excellent memoir of an outsider in Nazi Germany. The writing style is enjoyable (it won't win a Pulitzer but is engaging), but what most strikes me in reading it are the many moving moments and vignettes: a down-to-earth handyman pinning his hopes on Hitler after losing his savings to inflation, confused and saddened by lurches in propaganda; a brilliant anti-Nazi lawyer berating Bielenberg for taking the risk of harbouring a Jewish couple; the reaction by rural villagers to a crashed US airman; a stiff-upper-lip Berliner losing her nerve in an air raid... And beneath it, the undercurrent of a gradual loss of trust, the erosion of the ability to have an honest conversation with an unknown entity without fear of being reported. Read in the current climate, the book's warning seems stark and moving.
March 24, 2025
I found this book by chance in a charity shop and was very pleased as I had heard of it and wanted to read it. The description of life in Nazi Germany is that of an outsider as Christabel Bielenberg is both a foreigner and an educated woman so she does enjoy some privileges. However, from the word go we understand that she resisted the new Nazi regime in her own way and some of her friends paid the price. She describes living in Berlin and escaping with her children to the Black Forest where she became part of village life while her husband was being ordered to different places in civilian and military roles. Her style is not overly emotional which feels appropriate. A very interesting if at times unsettling read which gives a strong sense of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events.
November 3, 2024
I loved this book, it was so moving and I learnt so
Much about the war from the German point of view.
It really helped to put things into perspective. I hadn’t realise how much hardship the German people suffered.
It also questions nationalism and how the population can be brainwashed, by both sides . The failure of communism in Germany, and the scale of brutality again on both sides.
It will inform my view of history, which is usually written by the victors. It was refreshing to learn about the other side, for a change.
Much about the war from the German point of view.
It really helped to put things into perspective. I hadn’t realise how much hardship the German people suffered.
It also questions nationalism and how the population can be brainwashed, by both sides . The failure of communism in Germany, and the scale of brutality again on both sides.
It will inform my view of history, which is usually written by the victors. It was refreshing to learn about the other side, for a change.
October 3, 2020
This book goes farther towards answering the question Why did Hitler come to power and stay there so long ? That people did not take him nor his views nor his party seriously in the land of Goethe + Beethoven was backed up by some precedent - that for a certain period of time, the governments of parties that came to power simply did not last very long. This can be seen in a similar vein as the fate of Italian governments - over a longer stretch of time.
January 19, 2025
A favorite memoir I have reread several times since the 1980s (when the BBC did a miniseries starring Elizabeth Hurley). The observations from a privileged young English woman who marries a German lawyer and lives through the rise and fall of the Third Reich, it provide insights into "an incomprehensible past." I guess I keep reading it to fathom the truth of how readily ordinary people and whole societies can become complicit in the most appalling acts of inhumanity on a massive scale.
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